Windstream 2015 Annual Report Download - page 51

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PENSION BENEFITS
The following table shows certain information regarding benefits under the Windstream Pension Plan and
Benefit Restoration Plan as of December 31, 2015 for Mr. Thomas. No other current or former NEOs have benefits
under the Windstream Pension Plan or the Benefit Restoration Plan.
Name Plan Name
Number of Years
Crediated Service
(#) (1)
Present Value of
Accumulated Benefit
($) (2)
Payments During
Last Fiscal Year
($)
Tony Thomas Pension Plan 7 108,889 —
Benefit Restoration Plan — 9,295 —
(1) Number of years credited service recognizes prior service under the Alltel Corporation Pension Plan and the
Alltel Corporation Benefit Restoration Plan.
(2) The present value of accumulated benefits includes the present value of the benefits transferred from the Alltel
Corporation Pension Plan and the Alltel Corporation Benefit Restoration Plan assumed by Windstream at
the time it spun off from Alltel in 2006. The present value of accumulated benefits was calculated based on
retirement at age 60 with 20 years of credited service, current compensation as of December 31, 2015, no pre-
retirement decrements, the RP-2014 generational projection table using scale MP-2014, and a 4.55% discount
rate, which is the same rate used for preparing Windstream’s consolidated financial statements.
Windstream Pension Plan. Windstream maintains the Windstream Pension Plan (“Pension Plan”), which is
a tax-qualified defined benefit plan. The Pension Plan generally covers salaried and non-salaried employees of
Windstream and those subsidiary companies that have adopted the Pension Plan. Accruals are frozen for non-
bargaining employees. No NEOs are eligible for continuing accruals under the Pension Plan as of the end of 2015.
The Pension Plan’s accrued benefit is payable in the form of a monthly life annuity following normal retirement
at age 65 (or, if later, at five years of service or at the fifth anniversary of participation). The accrued benefit is also
payable in a monthly life annuity following early retirement at or after age 55 with at least 20 years of service (with
reduction in the life annuity of 0.25% for each month that commencement precedes age 60) or at or after age 60 with
15 years of service (with reduction in the life annuity of 0.25% for each month that commencement precedes age
65 for a participant whose benefit commences before age 62). As of the end of 2015, no NEOs satisfied the foregoing
age and service requirements to commence receipt of an early retirement benefit under the Pension Plan.
For deferred vested participants (i.e. those who terminate employment before early retirement), the accrued
benefit is payable in a monthly life annuity beginning at normal retirement age. If a deferred vested participant has
15 years of service, the accrued benefit is also payable in a monthly life annuity beginning as early as age 60 (with
reduction in the life annuity of 0.50% for each month commencement precedes age 65), and, if the deferred vested
participant has at least 20 years of service, the accrued benefit is also payable in a monthly life annuity beginning as
early as age 55 (with reduction in the life annuity of 0.50% for each month commencement precedes age 65).
For a participant eligible for normal retirement or early retirement, payment is also available in actuarial
equivalent joint and surviving spouse annuities, which provide a reduced monthly amount for the participant’s life
with the surviving spouse receiving 50%, 75% or 100%, as elected, of the reduced monthly amount, or in an actuarial
equivalent 10-year certain-and life annuity, which provides a reduced monthly amount for the participant’s life and,
if the participant dies within 10 years of benefit commencement, with payments to a designated beneficiary for the
remainder of the 10-year certain period. For a married deferred vested participant, payment is also available in the
form of an actuarial equivalent joint and 50% or 75% surviving spouse annuity, as elected. If a vested participant dies
before benefit commencement, an annuity generally is payable to the participant’s surviving spouse in an amount
based on the joint and 50% surviving spouse annuity that would have been payable to the participant beginning on
the later of when the participant died or would have been eligible to commence a benefit.
Under the Pension Plan, post-January 1, 1988 through December 31, 2005 service (December 31, 2010 service
for employees who had attained age 40 with two years of vesting service as of December 31, 2005) is credited at
1% of compensation, including salary, bonus and other non-equity incentive compensation, plus 0.4% of that part
of the participant’s compensation in excess of the Social Security taxable wage base for such year. Service prior to
1988, if any, is credited on the basis of a percentage of the participant’s highest consecutive five-year average annual